All-inclusive effort gives Nicholls women thrilling 70-67 home win over Islanders

If it takes a village to raise a child, then it takes an entire squad to win a thrilling college basketball game that goes down to the wire.

Such was the case for the Nicholls women’s basketball team as numerous players came to the rescue in a 70-67 win over Texas-Corpus Christi on Thursday night at Stopher Gym.

There was guard Britiya Curtis, who connected on three of her four 3-pointers on the night in the third quarter to turn what had been a 10-point deficit into a two-point lead heading into the final quarter.

She found her spot along the corner baseline in sinking the three 3-pointers.

“It’s something I work on every day, so it’s like kind of practice, if that makes sense. So it was kind of like natural to me. That’s how I kind of got in the groove and my teammates lifted me up,” said Curtis, who scored 12 points in the win.

“We know what she can do. She just has to believe in herself. We believe in her. I’m letting her know, shoot it. Let it go. We believe in her. Her teammates believe in her,” Nicholls coach Justin Payne said.

Then there was Daelyn Craig. Although the stat sheet showed four points and three rebounds, she gave Nicholls quality minutes off the bench after post player Lexi Alexander picked up her fourth foul with 1:09 remaining in the third quarter.

“I stay more towards defense. I know I need to get rebounds, defensive and offensive. I just played my role so we could win the game,” said Craig.

“That’s why it was so important for us to bring Daelyn with us from Georgia Southwestern. That’s what she did. She’s a champion. She helped us win championships at Southwestern. She’s a winner. She knows what it takes. You can see she fights and claws for everything. She’s used to that. What she brings to this group; it doesn’t always show on the stat sheet. She’s just a winner. A winner in life. A winner on and off the court,” Payne said of Craig, who followed him from Georgia Southwestern when he became the coach at Nicholls.

Alexander entered the game at the 4:43 mark of the fourth quarter and immediately took over. Driving hard down the lane, she scored two baskets and hit two free throws to turn what had been a one-point deficit into a 65-60 lead for Nicholls with 1:34 left in the game. She would go on score eight-straight points and 10 of her team’s final 11 points in the contest.

“I knew I was gonna go back in so (I was) supporting my teammates on the court. I kept the energy consistent the whole time, so when I got on I didn’t need to warm back up, it was just go time,” said Alexander, who finished with a game-high 21 points, 14 coming in the second half.

“Lexi was ready to go under five (minutes left in the game). She put us on her back and said, ‘we’re not going to lose this game.’ That’s what she does,” said Payne.

Senior guard Kyla Hamilton, the shortest player on the court at 5-foot-6, pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. None was bigger than her final one.

With Nicholls leading 67-65, Hamilton came up with a rebound following a miss by Corpus Christi’s Mireia Aguado with 34 seconds left in the game.

“That’s what our coach says all the time. If we’re not scoring, we got to make sure we’re locking up on ‘D’ and rebounding. Our posts are working hard, guarding those big girls boxing out, we gotta make sure we get in there and help them and that’s what I did tonight. That was my role,” said Hamilton, who finished eight points.

“You see this heart on my shirt? That’s how big Kyla’s heart is. It might be bigger than that. She does everything. As a point guard, she’s continuing to grow. Her plus-minus has been amazing for about a five-game stretch,” Payne said.

Payne was referring to a big, red heart on his white shirt he donned with Valentine’s Day approaching.

“My wife, she picks out everything. Shout out to my wife. I love my wife. She was wearing the heart. My children had the heart on, too. I just joined them with it,” said Payne.

The Lady Colonels were playing keep-away and using up clock before the Islanders were eventually forced to foul.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi fouled Deonna Brister with 16 seconds left in the game. She missed her first attempt but made the second to put Nicholls up by three points. Brister finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.

“Deonna’s tough. She embodies winning on and off the court. She’s just a tough-minded kid. You can see her also from the start of the game, she’s flying around, defending people way taller than her, bigger than her. It doesn’t matter. She just wants to win,” Payne said.

Corpus Christi’s Alecia Westbrook missed a layup but followed up her miss to make it a one-point game.

Alexander hit two free throws with six seconds left to again make it a three-point game.

Bruna Anguera’s shot came up short and hit the side of the rim and bounced away, giving Nicholls the 70-67 win.

The win, the third straight, evened Nicholls’ record in the Southland Conference at 5-5 and 11-11 overall. Corpus Christi fell to 7-3 in the SLC and 14-7 overall.

Westbrook finished with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Paige Allen tossed in 16 points.

Nicholls turned back-to-back turnovers by the Islanders into points to take its biggest lead of the first half.

Brister hit a basket after a Corpus Christi miscue and Alexander scored on a three-point play to give Nicholls an eight-point lead with 46 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Corpus Christi closed the opening quarter by scoring the final four points on a basket by Allen and two Westbrook free throws to pull to within 15-11 at the end of the first quarter.

The Islanders continued to score opening the second quarter, coming up with an inside basket by Westbrook and a basket by Jaeda Whitner to give Corpus Christi a 16-15 lead.

The Islanders’ lead lasted mere moments until Mikayla Etienne connected on a 3-pointer for Nicholls.

A combination of turnovers, lack of offensive rebounds, and shots that rimmed out for the Lady Colonels allowed Corpus Christi to build its biggest lead of the half.

A layup by Westbrook and a Violeta Verano free throw put Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on top by five points, 25-20, with 2:33 left in the second quarter.

After Nicholls tied the game at 27-27, a 3-pointer by Whiter and a short jumper in the lane by Allen put the Islanders back on top by five points.

Curtis hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, allowing Nicholls to trail 32-30 at halftime.

An 8-0 run the Islanders in the middle of the third quarter allowed Corpus Christi to build its biggest lead of the game at 10 points.

Tymberlin Criswell drove the baseline for a basket, Westbrook hit a free-throw and Criswell followed with two more free throws before Whitner hit a 3-pointer to give the Islanders a 45-35 lead with 4:47 remaining in the third quarter.

Curtis sank two 3-pointers as part of a 13-1 Nicholls run that gave the home team a 48-46 lead.

The teams traded baskets in the closing moments of the third quarter. A three-point play by Brister gave Nicholls a 51-49 lead heading into the fourth quarter.